Does watching too much TV dumb us down?

Our society here in the United States has grown accustomed to watching tons of TV. People are used to watching TV for a number of reasons. Because it's there. Because they have TV in their homes. Because they like the stars acting in a particular movie, or, because they heard that a particular show is good and they like it. They hardly use TV for educational purposes. They prefer Jeapordy over reading books and actually educating themselves for a greater purpose to get more skills and do more things. I actually think that too much TV can dumb us down. I think people here in the United States are watching too much TV and society is becoming too materialistic and people aren't reading enough books.

People are becoming dumbed down by these shows that are critically acclaimed as masterpieces when they are nothing more than romances or sci-fi dramas. People need to wake up and see that they are becoming dumber by sitting there and not being active when watching TV. Even though watching TV requires no thinking and they can see how other people talk on TV shows it would be wiser for them to actually read a book. Reading books is far more an effective way of educating yourselves than watching TV. I think people need to realize that there needs to be a change and either TV shows need to be more intelligent or that they need to start reading more books.

I think more people need to realize that reading is something that is their obligation as an US citizen, not, as something they must do for high school and college, and then, stop reading after that. People need to read so that society will become better educated. Society won't become more educated if they keep on watching who knows how many hours of TV.

Yeah of course T.V. is dumbing us down. We know this.

As far as the educational aspect, I believe it exists. But not fully. Even when I watch a History channel documentary I am full aware that they are misrepresenting facts. The History channel is in the pocket of some-one else and so they routinely present sugar-coated biographies of our past presidents etc...

So even educational T.V. is not real education. That's the scary thing. And I like the Discovery channel, I like the Travel and History channel and National Geographic. But all of those channels are owned by the same people who own E! and Lifetime and all the brain-rotters out there.

Yeah... T.V. is bad... a lot of fake realities presented to people to sway them from realizing their own reality. But we can still exist peacefully with our T.V. sets. After long hours of reading I enjoy watching something funny... I really do. There is comfort in the television that we can't get from anything else. But with all comforts, we overdo it... and it can make us weak.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by NewWorldOver]

It depends on the individual person and it also depends on what you watch. The problem is not very many choose to watch educational documentaries because TV is mainly used by these folks for exactly what it was designed to do, to entertain.
Not much knowledge can be acquired from entertainment, which include things like movies, music and sports, so this alone tells me yes, TV has dumbed us down.

The same can be said about playing video games.

Its not the TV, its what people choose to watch on their TV. Just like its not books that make people educated, its what books they choose to read.

I dont blame people for wanting something easy to digest when they get home from work though. If life is stressful all day long, you probably wont feel like researching the iraqi war when you get home and have put the kids to bed.

Its not the people, its the society we live in. It fosters shallow, inpatient, instant gratification junkies with ME written in their forehead.

Just watch an episode of "Don't Forget the Lyrics". Your answer should lie somewhere between the first and second commercial breaks .


Ok so that was a joke, but it wouldn't be so funny it wasn't true. Modern tv more or less proves this. They have numbed us to the point that they don't even come up with orignal content anymore. Sitcoms ceased to be anything even close to original long ago, and reality tv has gotten to the point when we are on the 157th survivor, and that we have Osborne rip-offs coming out of the ***, and they aren't even interesting. The Hogans lead and incredibly boring life. It doesn't even have to be interesting anymore!

Even "good" channels like history, which I enjoy, are not exactly perfect. Take the show "Dogfights". I watched a few and enjoyed them. I got incredibly turned off after that but (correct me if I'm wrong I've stopped watching) according to that show, the only dogfights in history involved Americans.

CNN has ceased to report the news, and simply loops the election coverage babble, and there isn't even a candidate yet. I don't think I even need to comment on Fox.

My real question in all this is, is this us being intentionally dumbed down to be good little sheep, or are we honestly so complacent and not wanting to think so much, that this is just what the market is demand, so the networks are producing?

reply to post by Frankidealist35


the answer is easy !

it is also a question !

WOULD YOU BE ALLOWED TO WATCH THIS ON TV ?
video.google.com...

WHEN YOU RESEARCH THE SCIENCE ETC... TALKED ABOUT HERE YOU WILL NO LONGER "WANT TO WATCH [ TV] "

YOU WILL HOWEVER FIND A NEW DIRECTION INTO "REALITY" AND "WONDERMENT"

ENJOY !

Does watching tv cause people to get dumb?

Answer: No Shert Schitlock!

Originally posted by Copernicus

Its not the TV, its what people choose to watch on their TV. Just like its not books that make people educated, its what books they choose to read.

Well see now already you're the second person to say this,

and I have to disagree. I watch 'educational' T.V. It is an empty shell of pre-constructed facts and distractionary footage. We are educated very thoroughly on things like foreign cultures, nature, etc. but when it comes to history, the military, and all these 'conspiracy theory' shows - the coverups and efforts to mind-control the viewer are just incredible in number.

So even 'smart' T.V. is indoctrination material... and very blatant material at that. Any person who has educated themself on the real history of George Washington or who has really studied conspiracy theory is more likely to be disgusted then educated.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by NewWorldOver]

Its just that they do our thinking for us, and watching tv, we never use our imagination, tv just implants ideas and stuff in there. Radio is much better, but many of us want visual stimulation.

reply to post by NewWorldOver


Well yes, of course you have to realize that nothing is ever objective. But as long as you know that, you can watch a show with a attitude of "thats what those guys are thinking" instead of "this is the truth".

Things are just silly today. Global warming, war against terrorism etc... I just feel im living in a Simpson episode, and there are stupid, scared and immature people running the world. Or, they know exactly what they are doing and making a #load of money from it. Could very well be.



[edit on 29-3-2008 by Copernicus]

Oh jeez, don't get me started. Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, any reality TV show, etc. what crap. I watch little TV other than sports. I watched Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, once. I was disgusted. But, I digress.

I have to disagree a tad.



I saw "secret societies" on history channel, and NO attempts were made to discredit the conspiracy theories. In fact, the opposite can be true: I used that show to get a friend to wake up.



Airing "secret societies" was completely unnecessary (for the Establishment) and can serve to show that our media is not as controlled as some people think.

Originally posted by intrepid
Oh jeez, don't get me started. Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, any reality TV show, etc. what crap. I watch little TV other than sports. I watched Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, once. I was disgusted. But, I digress.

Just interested, why were you disgusted watching "are you smarter than a 5th grader"? It's a fairly innocent show.

I had a very profound comment to make, but I am watching TV and I completely forgot what I was about to say.

Oh wait. My answer is yes. Wait, what was the question again? Back to the tube for more televised edumakashun.

reply to post by Frankidealist35
When my seldom used television crapped out about 4 years ago, I could find no reason to replace it. I just never watched it much, my hobbies and exercising took up too much time. Aside from some of the programming on the Discovery Channel, and maybe 3 or 4 movies on HBO or Showtime worth watching in a year (all of which one can rent or buy on DVD), everything on the idiot box is for idiots! Sorry if my comments offend anyone, but if you watch more than a couple hours of television a WEEK, I consider you an idiot and looser, ha. Really I do. There, I said it, but it had to be said. Those addicted to television are as bad off as those crack heads and meth monkeys and drunkaholics.

Also, those who watch television every day instead of taking care of any "issues" in their life should have NO right to complain about anything in your world. I.E. if you waste time watching television, you have no excuse to complain that you don't have enough money or aren't getting paid enough. (sell that idiot box equipment and use that money and reclaimed time to go to school and become something other than a lazy fat ass couch potato idiot box junky, or at least get a hobby that keeps you active and healthy). Seriously, only idiots and loosers watch too much TV.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by Divinorumus]

TV rots brains. My old mum used to say that. I believe she was correct.
The vast majority of television is formulaic....and thus boring as hades.
It is used as a propaganda matrix and its uses for indoctrination are limitless.
One could theorize that not only does it brainwash by repetition and demoralization, but in and of itself, the electromagnetic tele waves could be purposefully utilized by malevolent controllers to affect our brain waves and ultimately overthrow our very minds. I guarantee this: if it is not being used already, they are trying to find a way to make it work.
Back to the demoralizing bit: take a look at television over any given number of years. The moral integrity never grows...it only further decays. Look at any long running T.V show. It goes from bad to worse (from a purely moral perspective...not even touching on its formulaic nature). Why do they want to do this? Debasement. Lower your character, your self-respect, your respect of others and keep your mind on your basest, lowest level instincts or states.
Why? Desensitization. Removing shame from the equation. keeping us occupied with irrelevant and unedifying junk with a constant, unintelligible gnawing hunger for more. Keep us away from what is important.
Is T.V dumbing us down? I think it is. Morally, spiritually, intellectually and socially. The same can certainly be said for video games and 'much' of our internet surfing. I think however, the internet is superior and less dangerous in a sense. T.V has only lies. At least you get both the lies and the truth on the Internet.
That doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching Heroes...or X-Files or anything that gets my interest. I like some of the stuff shown on Discovery or National Geographic or History Channel...but even so, compared to a book; there is no comparison. T.V should 'supplement' books, not replace them.
Well, thats my two cents worth.

Peace, Love and Eternal Grooviness

Originally posted by thetruth777
Airing "secret societies" was completely unnecessary (for the Establishment) and can serve to show that our media is not as controlled as some people think.

Good post, it's good to wake people up with a documentary.

As for the History channel;
It's all watered down. To a major extent. The truth behind secret societies are that satanists run the world. Period. Human and child sacrifice does happen, slaves are kept, drugs and murder are involved - these are real people who run the world with real money, and they are real satanists - ever hear that on History channel? You never will.

When they mention Ben Franklin in a documentary on secret societies - do they mention that he had the skeletal remains of children under his home? Do they mention that he had orgies with satanists in Europe on a regular basis?

Yes, the History channel can wake people up to a minute aspect - but their real purpose is to hide real history. That's what America has been doing to itself for hundreds of years... TV really helps us maintain that insanity.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by NewWorldOver]

I saw an article once where it said "videotape yourself watching TV for hours and see what you look like."

I agree with this. People are reading less and less nowadays. Sure, there are some brain numbing romance novels and so forth, but TV has just so much more crap per channel.

There are some educational channels, but how many people actually watch those for longer than one commercial break? It seems like the commercials for those channels are so much longer, and encourages people to change the channel.

Another article said, "see how long you can go without it." I bet most people can't go a day without watching television.

I actually think it does, but then again there are some shows that are said to help you understand things a bit more like A&E, History, National Geographic. So I see it as a kind of give and take and all about moderation. Though it wasn't hard to break away from that TV, all it took was one look at my grades .